I learned to hold a cello bow. (Kind of. . . I’m still working on it.)
When you are playing your cello, avoid squeezing it’s neck. Cellos are more like kids than you would think.
I was reminded how love the atmosphere of school. Going to a university campus for my cello lesson made me a little nervous. It’s not that I’m never on a university campus these days, but it’s been a long time since I’ve gone there in the middle of the day while students are bustling about from place to place. However, after about five minutes, I felt so at home. What a stimulating place! People briskly walk from place to place, buzzing around with important things to do and a strong sense of purpose. Things feel efficient even if they’re not. There are no small people to distract you (even though I love small people and their distractions). It all kind of made me want to jump back into academia with both feet. It’s kind of like how I feel when I visit a middle school or high school during the middle of the school day; I just want to hop into a classroom and start teaching. Visiting the university campus made me want to hop back into a classroom and start learning.
I relearned the International Alphabet symbol for a “th” sound. If you don’t use it, you loose it, and that’s why I’m always having to relearn IPA symbols if I haven’t needed to use them for half a year or so. Each time I relearn them, though, I end up remembering more of them. Every time I use the International Phonetic Alphabet, I’m so grateful that I took Diction for Singers in college even though I needed to audit it. It’s been one of THE most useful and practical classes for me as a singer.
Donner and Blitzen, those polar reindeer, probably got their names from the German words for “thunder” and “lightning.”
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